Queen Victoria ... and a Life of the New King, Edward VII with a Brief History of England; Her Grand Life and Glorious Reign (Salesman's Sample)

Cincinnati, O.: W.H. Fergson Co, 1901. Salesman's Sample. Hardcover. Very Good. Slim 4to. [4], 15-24, 65-120, 289, 337, 379, 411, 501-508, [1] (final page is an advertisement for the trade edition, and advertises the two binding styles that the trade edition would be released in, an extra silk cloth binding and a morocco binding with marbled edges) pp. Blue pictorial cloth lettered in gold on the front and rear boards. Includes a frontispiece and several plates of illustrations that would later be published in the true first. Three lined, loose leaf sheets of paper bound in the rear of the volume: these were for the salesman to record people's names, addressed, and their preferred binding types for pre-order of the book. A fascinating saleman's sample from the early twentieth century, shortly after Queen Victoria's passing. Saleman's samples were used to advertise the forthcoming publication to potential subscribers and buyers of the book. The sample would be transported door to door, in an attempt to boost advanced orders for the book the sample advertised (American Antiquarian Society, "Book Salesman's Samples"). A Very Good copy with minor soiling to the boards and a tiny tear to the fore-edge of one or two leaves.